Letter from Lowell

Ladyra

Hello I'm in a bit of a panic. My husband just received a letter from Lowell Financial saying that he owes Shop direct nearly £500!! He has never bought anything from them or opened any account with them.
Apparently an account was opened with them on 13/01/2011 but shop direct couldnt sort it as they might not have had our up to date address (we lived at this address since FEB 2009)

Lowell say they have used the credit ref agency to confirm my husbands address and now they want him to pay the debt.

How can we prove we havent bought anything from these people, i really dont want bailiffs on my door please any advice would be gratfully recieved

Thanks Sarah

joannaspanner

Hi Sarah, is the name on the letter your husbands exact name or is it misspelt, as could possibly be a fishing letter for someone with a similar name?

Ladyra

Hi Joanna, yes the names spelt correctly unfortunatley

amyloofoo

Firstly, don't panic. If you don't owe the money then they can't make you pay for it. There are template 'prove it' letters you can send to ask them to prove the debt's yours (the burden of proof is theres). I'm not entirely sure where the letter lives, but I think Fermi knows and has previously linked to it, you might be able to find it through a forum search.

In the short term I'd probably be tempted to drop them an email with the account number (not accepting liability for the debt at any point) but asking exactly what was ordered and how much it cost before they added their fees, interest, etc. Do you know which Shop Direct brand is claiming you owe them, i.e. Littlewoods, Very, etc?

joannaspanner

I've been having this but for someone with a similar name, these people are scumbags, whatever you do, don't call them. If it's any help I have a contact email address for Lowell, it's .. [EMAIL="james.crabtree@lowellgroup.co.uk"]james.crabtree@lowellgroup.co.uk[/EMAIL], he was actually quite helpful when I advised them it was a case of mistaken identity and I had no debt, at the end of the day it's up to them to prove it's your husband, I think some of the guys here have a 'prove it' letter you could send to them which might be of use to you? Also get your hubby to check his credit report and check nothing has been put on there xx

joannaspanner

amyloofoo wrote: »

Firstly, don't panic. If you don't owe the money then they can't make you pay for it. There are template 'prove it' letters you can send to ask them to prove the debt's yours (the burden of proof is theres). I'm not entirely sure where the letter lives, but I think Fermi knows and has previously linked to it, you might be able to find it through a forum search.

In the short term I'd probably be tempted to drop them an email with the account number (not accepting liability for the debt at any point) but asking exactly what was ordered and how much it cost before they added their fees, interest, etc. Do you know which Shop Direct brand is claiming you owe them, i.e. Littlewoods, Very, etc?

what you said !

Ladyra

Wouldnt contacting/emailing them just tell them that they have the correct address for us tho and therefore they will come to the door?? Ive got 2 kids, really dont want them to have any stress

fermi

Up to them to prove you ordered/took out a debt. The burden of proof is NOT on you to prove otherwise.

Obviously, as this is not your debt, they will not be able to provide any proof that would stand up.

Prove it letter in this link: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2607247

You could probably add something to say:

- That you have never had an account or ordered anything from SDG.
- That you were not living at the address in question when the alleged account was taken out.
- That as their client has obviously been a victim of fraud, then you expect them to report that to the authorities and cease any attempt at collection from yourself.

joannaspanner

Ladyra wrote: »

Wouldnt contacting/emailing them just tell them that they have the correct address for us tho and therefore they will come to the door?? Ive got 2 kids, really dont want them to have any stress

Hopefully someone better can advise you, don't stress honestly, these fishing letters are very common and they send them to anyone with the same name hoping they find who they are looking for, I basically told them it wasn't me, I have no debt, mistaken identity, and any further communication chasing this debt would result in immediate legal action against them ( I did ask that they write back to me so I had confirmation from them in writing that they did infact make a mistake)

xx

Ladyra

fermi wrote: »

Up to them to prove you ordered/took out a debt. The burden of proof is NOT on you to prove otherwise.

Obviously, as this is not your debt, they will not be able to provide any proof that would stand up.

Prove it letter in this link: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2607247

You could probably add something to say:

- That you have never had an account or ordered anything from SDG.
-That you were not living at the address in question when the alleged account was taken out.
- That as their client has obviously been a victim of fraud, then you expect them to report that to the authorities and cease any attempt at collection from yourself.

We have been living here since feb 2009 and the account was opened in 2011, but shop direct havent contacted us....Lowell got our address from credit ref agency not shop direct, Would Lowell really report fraud to the authorities for us or just ignore it??? confused lol

fermi

Ladyra wrote: »

Lowell say they have used the credit ref agency to confirm my husbands address and now they want him to pay the debt.

I would also be checking your credit reports as a matter of urgency given that.

If there was a default associated with this account, then it may now have falsely ended up on your credit report.:eek: If anything, that could be a bigger issue than a dumb !!! debt collector chasing a debt you don't know.

If you don't owe a debt, you can more or less tell the debt collector to burger off.

But if there is a default on your credit report, then you need to register formal disputes to get the thing taken off so that it doesn't screw your credit record.